A study of the distribution of molecules under free molecular flow conditions after collisions with simple geometries
Molecular distribution under free molecular flow conditions within surfaces of simple geometries
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Molecular distribution under free molecular flow conditions within surfaces of simple geometries
The results of research programs to develop sliding electrical contact materials, both brushes and slip rings, are discussed. Problems attendant to operating sliding contacts in a vacuum are defined; limitations of commercial materials in solving these problems are described, and special materials and surface finish conditions which have resulted in solutions to these problems are presented. Data from operational tests on the newly developed materials are compared with similar data obtained from materials now used as standards in consumer products. Possible commercial applications of the more efficient sliding contact materials are discussed briefly.
At present, the most common method of increasing reliability of a system against permanent random component failures is to triplicate the entire system and use voters. This method, though it enhances the reliability, does exact a heavy toll in weight and power consumption which increase by about 225%. In the future, computers will be required to perform complex tasks under adverse conditions on surfaces of planets for long periods of time (6 months or more), without any human intervention. At the same time there will be severe limitations on the weight and power consumption of these computers. For such systems it is obvious that simple triple-redundancy will not do. A more efficient and sophisticated design in redundancy has to evolve. This study has been directed toward that goal. It is understood that the initial design of such a system will be too complex and expensive to be used in a commercial computer; but for a space computer, reduction in weight (without reducing reliability) of every ounce means a great deal.
Apparatus for training astronaut crews to perform on simulated lunar surface under conditions of lunar gravity
Blue edge of RR Lyrae instability strip, examining convection, radiation and surface boundary conditions effects
Steady slow free molecule flow past sphere, obtaining distribution function and surface boundary conditions
The author has identified the following significant results. The 70mm black and white infrared photography acquired in March 1973 at an approximate scale of 1:115,000 permits the identification of areas of mine subsidence not readily evident on other films. This is largely due to the high contrast rendition of water and land by this film and the excessive surface moisture conditions prevalent in the area at the time of photography. Subsided areas consist of shallow depressions which have impounded water. Patterns with a regularity indicative of the room and pillar configuration used in subsurface coal mining are evident.
Low contact resistance between metal surfaces is often observed in spite of interposed lubricant and/or oxide films. To study this effect an apparatus is used with which normal force and tangential microdisplacement are applied between a small lead rider and a gold flat with various surface film conditions. Under nonoxidized and nonlubricated conditions, and with either oxide or stearic acid lubricant film alone, friction is high and contact resistance is low. With oxide and lubricant together, friction is much lower and slide is smooth, but contact resistance remains low and Ohm's law is obeyed. The results are consistent with Greenwood's theory of contact resistance for a cluster of minute metallic contact spots within the load-supporting area. The contact resistance of such a cluster is indistinguishable, for practical purposes, from that given by complete metallic contact.
The complete, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations are expressed in conservation form and solved by employing an explicit finite difference numerical technique which incorporates artificial viscosity terms of the form first suggested by Rusanov for numerical stability in the vicinity of shock waves. Surface boundary conditions are developed in a consistent and unique manner through the use of a physically oriented extrapolation procedure. From numerical experimentation an extended range for the explicit stability parameter is established. Also employed is an additional convergence parameter which relates incremental spatial steps. Convergence of the transient solution to a steady state flow was obtained after 400 to 500 time steps.
In late 1973, NASA plans to launch a three-man experimental space station, the Skylab Workshop. Technical specifications regarding the instrumental facilities of the space station are presented, giving attention to the multispectral photographic facility, the IR spectrometer, the multispectral scanner, the L-band radiometer, and the S-193 sensor. The S-193 sensor will provide data applicable to studying varying ocean surfaces, wave conditions, sea and lake ice, ocean clouds, weather prediction, and soil types. All data from the sensors will be recorded on film and analog magnetic tape for return at the end of each manned period of Skylab.
Results are presented of some numerical experiments on simple planar configurations. The experiments serve to establish more precisely some ground rules for optimum lattice arrangements. In particular, the location of both the horseshoe vortex elements and the control points at which the surface boundary conditions are to be satisfied is uniquely determined. Questions of lattice arrangement are discussed together with numerical results and problems of control point location.
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Photographic results obtained during the Apollo 17 flight for the near terminator and earthshine conditions are discussed. Lunar surface photographs taken in the vicinity of the sunshine terminator provide important information that is not obtained on photographs taken at higher sun evaluation angles. Earthshine photography also provides data on low relief, crater morphology, and small scale structures. Examples of photographs of the lunar surface taken under both conditions are provided.
The spherical means of the solutions of a linear partial differential equation Lu = f in a conical region are studied. The conical region is bounded by a surface generated by curvilinear ti surfaces. The spherical mean is the average of u over a constant ti surface. The conditions on the linear differential operator, L, and on the orthogonal coordinates (ti, eta, zeta) are established so that the spherical mean of the solution subjected to the appropriate boundary and initial conditions can be determined directly as a problem with only space variable. Conditions are then established so that the spherical mean of the solution in one concial region will be proportional to that of a known solution in another conical region. Applications to various problems of mathematical physics and their physical interpretations are presented.
Some results are described for a lifting rectangular wing centrally located on a circular-cylindrical body. This simple configuration has been utilized in order to assess the merits of a mapping technique for wing-body configurations. The procedure employed makes use of a coordinate transformation to simplify specification of the surface boundary condition in the computation of the flow about the wing. The method can be extended to incorporate wing sweep, finite length body of noncircular cross section, and arbitrary wing placement; however, these extensions involve a considerable increase in complexity of the problem.
Nozzle-type atomic beams and time-of-flight detection methods are employed in studies of the scattering of thermal-energy He-4 atoms from LiF (001) and NaCl (001) surfaces under conditions where diffraction is observed and where substantial inelastic scattering occurs. Intensity and speed-distribution measurements are obtained for the portion of the scattering within the plane of incidence. For these measurements, incident-beam orientation with respect to target (polar angle and azimuth), incident-beam de Broglie wavelength (0.38-0.60 A), and crystal temperature (300-1000 K) are varied. For LiF, the measured intensity distributions exhibit sharp peaks comprised essentially of elastically scattered atoms and corresponding to up to third-order diffraction, inelastic scattering in the form of local dispersion about each of the elastic peaks, and a component of nominally diffuse scattering distributed below and between the peaks. For NaCl, the same general types of scattering are observed, with elastic scattering less prevalent, intensity peaks not as sharp, and dispersions of inelastic scattering harder to resolve.
This paper presents results that describe the flow field and surface response conditions for a planetary probe entering the atmosphere of Jupiter. The results are obtained with a viscous-shock-layer analysis which includes mass injection, radiative transfer, diffusion, and viscous effects. Radiative transfer is calculated with an existing nongray radiation model that accounts for molecular band, atomic line, and continuum transitions. Particular emphasis is given to the effect of mass injection on the stagnation and downstream flow. Results for both specified and coupled mass injection are obtained for a carbon heat shield.
This paper is a review of current aircraft and satellite microwave remote sensing programs concerned with the measurement of ocean wave and surface wind conditions. These particular measurements have been identified by the user community as offering significant economic and technological benefits. Active microwave remote sensing techniques for these applications have been described theoretically and verified experimentally. The results of recent aircraft and satellite experimental programs are presented herein along with plans for the SeaSat-A Satellite Scatterometer.